I'd think of the ScotiaGold Passport as Scotiabank's travel-insurance card at a mid-range price, not as a points card. It earns a flat 1 Scene+ point per dollar, which works out to about 1% back, and for $110 a year you get a full insurance bundle: $1 million of travel medical for trips up to 25 days, primary rental car coverage, luggage cover and hotel burglary insurance.
The name sets up an expectation the card does not meet. Unlike the $150 Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite +, it charges the standard 2.5% foreign transaction fee and comes with no lounge visits. From what I can tell, it fits someone under 65 who wants dependable travel coverage on a card without the Visa Infinite income bar, and the first year costs nothing under the current offer.
Welcome offer
Scotiabank is advertising up to 10,000 bonus Scene+ points within your first 3 months, plus no annual fee in the first year, verified on the Scotiabank page on October 15, 2026. The points need at least $2,000 in eligible purchases posted in the first 3 months, and they arrive within about 8 weeks. At Scene+'s fixed value of about 1 cent per point (cpp), that is roughly $100 in travel or statement credits.
The offer applies to accounts opened on or after October 29, 2025 and has no printed end date, so confirm it on Scotiabank's page before you apply. The fee waiver covers the primary card and any additional cards issued in the first 12 months. Anyone who held a ScotiaGold Passport Visa, as a primary or secondary cardholder, in the 2 years before October 29, 2025 is not eligible.
The $2,000 in 3 months is about $667 a month, which most households reach on groceries and bills. Put a recurring bill or two on the card in the first week so the posted total builds while you wait for the welcome kit.
Fees & eligibility
The card costs $110 a year, and each additional card is $30. Under the current offer both are waived for the first year, including additional cards issued in the first 12 months. The primary cardholder is liable for all charges on supplementary cards.
The product page prints no income requirement, but the card has a $5,000 minimum credit limit. Purchase interest is 19.99% and cash advances, balance transfers and cash-like transactions are 22.99%, with no interest-free period on cash advances. Purchases in a foreign currency carry Scotiabank's 2.5% conversion fee, the same as on most of its cards. Pay the balance in full each month, since a flat 1x card earns far less than the interest costs.
Earning rewards
Earning is as plain as it gets: 1 Scene+ point per dollar on every purchase, with no bonus categories and no cap. At about 1 cpp, that is a return of roughly 1%.
The one wrinkle is rent. Pay rent, condo fees or eligible housing bills online through the Casa platform and you earn 1 point per dollar on those payments too, with Casa's usual credit card surcharge waived for this card. The catch is that those points only count in months where you also put at least $350 of other purchases on the card.
Redeeming rewards
Scene+ is a fixed-value program, so redemptions are simple: points are worth about 1 cpp whether you use them on travel or elsewhere. The most flexible route is Apply Points to Travel: book a flight, hotel or trip with any provider using the card, then redeem points against that charge within 12 months, with a minimum of 5,000 points per redemption.
You can also book directly through Scene+ Travel, powered by Expedia (phone bookings may carry a fee), or redeem for gift cards, the Apple and Best Buy catalogues, restaurant partners, Cineplex and statement credits. There are no transfer partners, so there is no way to stretch points beyond their fixed value.
Perks & benefits
Perks are light, and that is the main gap against Scotiabank's Visa Infinite cards. There is no lounge access and no foreign transaction fee waiver.
What you do get is up to 25% off base rates at participating Avis and Budget locations in Canada and the U.S., and fuel savings at Shell when you link the card to a Shell Go+ account: an instant 3 cents per litre, an extra 4 cents per litre on premium fuel until June 1, 2027, and Scene+ points on top, for up to 10 cents per litre in total value. The Casa rent option is the other practical extra if you rent.
Insurance
The insurance is the reason to hold this card. Travel emergency medical covers you, your spouse and your dependent children for up to $1 million on trips of up to 25 days, but only while you are under 65: there is no coverage at 65 or older, even if the birthday falls during the trip. Longer trips can be topped up by buying extra days from the insurer before you leave.
Rental cars get primary collision and loss damage coverage for up to 48 days on vehicles with an MSRP up to $65,000. Delayed luggage (4 hours or more) pays up to $1,000 per trip, lost luggage up to $1,250, common carrier accidents up to $250,000, and hotel or motel burglary in Canada and the U.S. up to $1,000. New purchases are covered for 90 days and warranties extended by up to one year, to a $60,000 lifetime maximum. There is no trip cancellation, trip interruption or flight delay coverage.
My take
I'd get this card if you are under 65, want travel medical and rental coverage without a Visa Infinite income bar, and pay in Canadian dollars; I'd skip it if you spend abroad or care about earning.
For $110, I see the ScotiaGold Passport as an insurance product with a 1% rewards rate attached. The medical, rental and luggage coverage is real, and the first year is free under the current offer, which makes it an easy card to test.
The weak points are hard to ignore. A card called Passport that charges 2.5% on foreign purchases is a poor companion on the trip itself, and the Passport Visa Infinite + removes that fee and adds lounge visits for $40 more. If you can meet that card's income bar, I'd go there instead; if not, this one still covers the trip.
The good
- $1 million travel medical for trips up to 25 days
- Primary rental car coverage for up to 48 days
- First-year fee waived under the current offer
The catch
- 2.5% foreign transaction fee
- Flat 1 point per dollar, about 1% back
- Medical coverage ends at 65; no trip cancellation